Thoughts on why "Chinese People Suck Again"

I was browsing through the blogger tools and came across one of my posts from April 2006 that had a whopping 11 comments. Turns out some people commented a month after I posted it, and another person commented just last month. Quite a surprise. I need to read those notification emails more carefully!

Here is the entry.

The reason it received these late comments is the touchy and direct title, "Chinese People Suck Again". I found it interesting because it seemed like the readers thought that I was not Chinese (despite me saying "my people" in the last line of the original post). Some boneheaded reader proclaimed that I was racist. That's quite intriguing to me because for the first time I'm pondering whether its possible for me to be racist against my own people. It was interesting to see people dismiss this as being a racist post, and assume that I was not Chinese. They then felt compelled to "educate" me as if I were an ignorant foreigner, butchering the Chinese way of life. Anyways, I'm going to respond to those comments here:



LOL, this guy's a winner. However, I must thank him/her for introducing the notion that I may be prejudice towards my own people.



I don't understand. Show some respect for whom? The family that bought a ton of souvenirs and attempted to take over my storage space? The two girls who violated airline rules to be the first to exit the plane? The people dumb enough to not be able to form a line? "These people live like that". Well, I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and let's just say that I have a little higher expectations for my fellow HKers. I certainly don't believe that this type of behavior is our "way of live". I was "bragging"? How so? Also, I fail to understand the analogy of people laughing at someone who walked barefoot. If you want my respect, please earn it.

I'm glad this guy agrees with me "portionally"(sic), but pulling out the "atrocities" card is a bit much. It has absolutely (and I don't use this word often) nothing to do with my post, except for the fact that there were both Japanese people and Chinese people involved (like WWII did). If this guy's excuse for Chinese impoliteness is WWII, then I have nothing else to say. There is no relation, and it makes no sense. We all know that Japanese people aren't perfect, but for the most part, they respect people, they respect cleanliness, and they respect their land. A majority of Chinese people have trouble doing that.

Finally, someone with a more civilized comment. He or she is Chinese, and that's fine and dandy and so am I. I'm going to assume this person was trying to say that because Hong Kong is overcrowded, so we should excuse them for pushing and shoving and not respecting the space of one another. As a Chinese person, I cannot accept that, nor can I respect people for acting this way. I also think that our friend, modo, has the wrong idea. I'm not asking people to say please or thank you or make small talk. I'm asking them to simply show some respect. If you want that job, you run instead of walk, but you don't break the rules. If you don't want to "lose a meal", wake up earlier, but don't cut in line.

I don't buy the idea that China is an "impolite country'. China is perhaps the oldest civilization in the world. I don't accept that they are so behind other developed nations in terms of politeness. China has such a rich cultural history, it is inconceivable that they missed the session on "how to be polite".

Here's the thing: being truly polite and respectful comes from the heart. Right now, most Chinese people are polite only when money is involved. If Chinese people want the world (or even their own people) to respect them, they have to adopt a positive mentality, not just play the role.